Who Benefits from SHOUT’s Victory?

By Ron Johnson, 2/17/04

 

         Following SHOUT’s spectacular victory at the County Commissioners hearing earlier this month, which effectively lulled most of us into a feeling of well being, I was recently brought back to SHOUT's efforts this past week by one of their supporters who had attended that, admittedly, anti-climatic hearing along with over 400 other residents, including myself. Like virtually all Sun City residents, the thought of helicopters disturbing our peace was an unpleasant prospect to consider.

That the Commissioners’ hearing was essentially anti-climatic was soon evident as the heliport agenda item progressed. Everyone, it seemed, including Aviation Director Randy Walker, was clearly prepared to accept a modification to the original proposed agenda item of selecting the preferred heliport site at the Go Cart site near Sloan. So, with little or no surprise in store as the agenda item moved toward its inevitable end, the Commissioners voted to relocate the preferred site 2 to 5 miles farther south along the I-15.

But, as our SHOUT supporter puzzled over the hearing’s outcome, it was not at all clear just why the Commissioners agreed to overrule the Aviation Department’s recommendation, particularly in the absence of any apparent or real threat to Anthem. While SHOUT’s accomplishments would ordinarily be considered a testament and tribute to their effectiveness in successfully influencing the County’s political leadership, it remained to be shown just how the exercise of such power actually accrued to the benefit of the residents of Sun City.   

While some other parties had been critical of the Sloan site, it was apparent to this observer that the dedicated efforts of the SHOUT committee were responsible for this remarkable turnaround in overruling the Aviation Department’s Go Cart site recommendation. While the Committee had favored the Jean site, located 15 miles farther south of Sloan, a 2-5 mile win was considered all that was politically possible under present circumstances.

From the County's perspective, as we learned at the hearing, their reconsideration of the Go Cart site has the potential of enriching the County to the tune of $11 million. Apparently, the Aviation Department had recently purchased that 49 acre site for that amount in anticipation of its future selection. If in the next year or so Federal lands, just up the I-15, are subsequently freed up for transfer at no cost to the County, the County, after they sell off that 49 acre parcel, will be $11 million ahead. That prospect would allow them to fund future projects (including heliport infrastructure) from monies currently in their land bank. We do not know how this $11 million dollar bonanza figured into the thinking of the Commissioners to relocate the preferred heliport site.

But we are led to believe that every mile farther south will help to further mitigate any potential environmental impact that Anthem might experience. And we learned from helicopter operators at the meeting that they would go along with a minor, 2 mile extension of the ride from the strip and their customer pool.  

That the SHOUT accomplishment was an incredible victory was made even more apparent at the Commissioners’ hearing when Mr. Walker showed a TV interview with our own Anthem Compendium publisher, Charles Davis, who was interviewed on the occasion of Anthem’s helicopter “test” flight taking off from the then preferred heliport site near Sloan. For that “test” flight occasion, a specialized sound recording station was set up at Anthem to listen and record those tell tail helicopter engine sounds. Sentinels were strategically posted and all eyes and ears were focused to the southern horizon. The “test” flight began and the recording machine and video camera whirled to catch the action.

Meanwhile, back at the hearing, we were listening intently as Mr. Walker played a video recording showing the sound equipment’s noise meter, along with the sounds that were being picked up by the Anthem-located device. When the audible noise level began to rise, we were told it was not helicopter noise but only the sound from a nearby automobile that came and went. But what the audience eventually did not hear was any sound from a helicopter. What happened? Did something go wrong? Or, where the helicopters just too far away to be heard?

In addition to the video and sound demonstration of Anthem's failure to register any noise from the “test” flight, Mr. Walker was not quite satisfied to leave well enough alone. To further drive his point home, namely that helicopters posed no environmental threat to Anthem, Mr. Walker played a clip of a TV interview of Chuck Davis’ reaction to the “test” flight. When Chuck was asked how the “test” flight went, he was recorded as saying something along the lines that he did not hear any helicopter noise and that he could not discern there would be a problem for Anthem. With that, one could almost hear what Mr. Walker was thinking, in making his argument for the Sloan/Go Cart site, “Case closed.” If there was no discernable adverse impact at Anthem, then, as Walker noted, there was no basis for the County Commissioners to mitigate SHOUT’s concerns by selecting a different preferred site.  

Well, as far as Walker was concerned, that seemed to have settle the matter on the Go Cart site and SHOUT's objections, or did it? Apparently no, since by that time, Mr. Walker was only going through the motions for the purpose of establishing a record. By all accounts, the agreement to select a new preferred site had already been reached.  

     We subsequently learned that the “test” flight did not exactly follow the proposed flight path indicated on the Aviation Department’s map (see Map), but, instead, was somewhat farther south of that line, perhaps along the east-west Jean corridor. In any event, that uncommunicated decision had the affect of bringing into question the validity of the so called “test” flight, since everyone had been led to believe that they were going to utilize the Sloan route set out by the Aviation Department. Regardless of who made the decision to alter the flight path, our concerns about the route of “test” flight were tempered, if not resolved, when we were subsequently told that the "test" flight path that had been taken was actually the route that would be taken by helicopters taking off from Sloan site, which route placed future helicopter flights even farther south than what the Aviation Department had originally proposed. Assuming we had been truthfully advised concerning the agreed upon, more southern route, Anthem would be spared from any adverse impact. 

     Now, if the operators and the County, through an M.O.U. or similar document, as the County said was their intent, adopt the more southern flight path taken during the "test" flight as the flight path that the operators would utilize in the future, what exactly was that fire that SHOUT was attempting to extinguish all about. In the absence of any discernable noise issue for Anthem's residents, would it be unfair to ask whether we served SHOUT's interest more than they served our interests?

     While SHOUT clearly turned the Commissioners around on the Slone site recommendation, one is left to wonder on just what evidence the Commissioners relied in making their determination that moving the preferred helicopter site up the highway a few miles was necessary to meet any legitimate safety and, or environmental concerns of the Anthem community. The Commissioners were not impressed with the level of evidence documenting the potential damage to our future health and well being. On the other hand, they may have been impressed with the threat of potential litigation, which SHOUT's attorney casually mentioned in his remarks to the Commissioners as something they should not lightly dismiss if they selected the Sloan site. Clearly, dutiful public servants prefer to avoid litigation when there is a mutually agreeable option that is readily available, along with a $11 million bonus to the county to boot, as in this case. Whatever the reason, it does not matter.

    No one will ever question whether those few nearby Sloan residents will be happy to see the Go Cart site moved away from their airspace. And be assured that SHOUT’s considerable expenditure of our community’s good will and effort will not be lost on the citizens of Sloan. But, alas, SHOUT was not established to meet the needs of those few Sloan residents, however grateful they may be.